It's Our Anniversary!

Well, one year ago, the former Paper Salon design team decided to make lemons into lemonade, creating the Pursuit Of Craftyness. And what a great year it has been, due in large part, to YOU!!! Without our readers, we would be sitting around twiddling our thumbs! (OK, not really, but you get the drift!)



To celebrate, I'd like to offer up a little blog candy! After all, you made our year pretty sweet.

What's all here? Good stuff, including:

Prism Paper cardstock

Scrap With In Reach papers and chipboard

Scenic Route chipboard

SEI ribbon and chipboard

Bazzill Basics brads

2 Copic markers (BV02 and Y11)

Prismacolor pencils (colorless blender and white)

Papertrey Ink Lavender Moon Grosgrain ribbon

CARDS, April 09

What do you think? Interested in having a chance at this? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post letting the Pursuit Of Craftyness gals know what post you learned the most from over the last year! (Hint: there is a list of tutorials on the right) You have until Sunday, May 3rd at 11:59PM Eastern time to enter!

Thanks again for being there for us! Good luck! ~ Jenn

Spring Wreath

Spring is here! Finally! Although I realize not everyone has had a taste of spring yet. For the midwest...it's here. Our trees are in bloom, leaves are filling out bushes and trees, flowers are budding, grass is greening up...it's beautiful. I love seeing everything coming back to life...all the green around me. It feels good..and definitely brings a spring to my step.

It also makes me want to start freshening up the house again. Change out the decorations...brightening things up. A great place to start is your front door. I thought a spring wreath would look nice there..although I'll confess...I liked it more on the stand for my entry hall table. So there it stays...and I made another wreath for the door!





Spring Wreath
Designer: Julia Sandvoss
Bo Bunny Abbey Road, Bo Bunny Abbey Road Dot, Bo Bunny Abbey Road Vine,Bo Bunny Abbey Road Sky,Bo Bunny Abbey Road Stripe,Bo Bunny Sadie Icandy Brads

Additional Supplies: Small Felt Flowers, White Styrofoam Ring, Colorbox Chalk Inks, Fiskars Mini Pinking Decorative Edge Scissors, Foam Adhesive Squares, Straight Pins

1) Use a diecut system to leaf shapes. Handcutting is fine too! And leaves aren't the only shape you can use... hearts, flowers, stars ...anything! Cut out about 30 “4 inch” leaves and 3-4 “2 inch” leaves. The smaller the leaf…the more you’ll need. For some leaves handcut them using decorative scissors for a fun edge.

2) Fold leaves in half to crease. Then use Chalk inks to ink the crease and edges of the leaves.

3) Pin (hot glue is another option) the large leaves randomly onto the styrofoam ring. Turn some in, some out, overlapping as you go.

4) Then add in the smaller leaves. You can add in as many as you like to fill in the wreath. Keep in mind…there’s no wrong way to make it. Each wreath will look different and that’s fine!

5) Add in some additional touches with the felt flowers, paper flowers cut from the paper and then layered and finished with a brad. Use the Foam Squares for added dimension when adhering to the wreath.

Designer Tip: This wreath is very lightweight...so if you do plan to hang it on your door, I would do so only if you have a storm door as well. Otherwise a good breeze will send it flying and most likely in pieces too!

Happy Spring!


Julia

Easter and Spring Cleaning! (paper crafting style!)

First, all of us at Pursuit of Craftyness hope each of you had a blessed Easter! Above, are some of the eggs I glittered about 2 weeks ago. They sat in a bed of green tissue paper inside a distressed wooden planter I found at Hobby Lobby. They added a little Easter fun to our boring kitchen counter. (Thanks Martha!)

Next, is a project that all of you list makers will want to use for your spring cleaning! I love this time of year because after being inside a closed up house all winter, I want the windows open and everything clean! Surprisingly, I cannot wait to spring clean each year!

The 6x6" folder started as a simple 12x12" sheet of cardstock. I have provided the template (below) if you would like to create one. This project was published in a previous issue Paper Trends Magazine (now titled Simply Handmade). The design and pattern are copyrighted and can only be reproduced for personal, private use.

I used stamps to design the background of the cover. Stamps were also used to create the decorative elements, as well as Marvy Scallop Square Punch, paper flowers and Sakura souffle pens.

For the inside lists, I simply typed them up in a Word document, printed them onto cardstock and trimmed them to fit the pockets. (Tip: Once you create one list, just copy and paste it and change only the title of the room.)

Below is the pattern on how to fold the 12x12" cardstock into a folder. Enjoy!

Enjoy and happy spring cleaning!! -Stacey

A Simple Easter Mantle

Hello, all!

I thought I'd share one of my latest obsessions with you today... simple glass jars. It's been a long time coming as one of my very favorite things to do is go junking! (I'd call it antiquing, but I really don't buy very many true "antiques.") Anyway, glass jars are everywhere to be found while junking, so I've got a cabinet full! We use them to hold everything from our silverware to my ribbons and buttons.

Lately I've been trying to add some larger jars to my collection to use for decorating. I used a few at Christmas to hold some patterned paper cone trees nestled in faux snow... so pretty! I wanted to use the jars again this Easter so I tried to pick some items that would fit in the jars. I found the little faux Fitz houses at Kroger (of all places!) and was hoping that one would fit in the larger jar... no luck. Enter the "moss" covered bunnies and natural looking eggs from Michael's. Much better! I used shredded paper as a base for most of the items, both to lift the items within the jars as well as soften the feel of everything. I love how it turned out and have been enjoying the look for a few weeks now.

I wanted to add in some paper crafted elements, so I raided my stash and found some bunny tags that were sent to me a while back by a friend. I know she received them from another friend, so I can't even credit who made them! I love their vintage look, though, and I think they added the perfect touch.

I also bought some plain kraft eggs to glitter a la Martha Stewart, but in the end decided I didn't need them. We will do the good ol' egg dying thing with the kids, though, so I may do a few with the glittered letters.

I plan on switching the Easter decorations out with sand and shells from our past vacations next. I think I'm going to print up a few pictures in various sizes and tuck them down in the sand with some little notes including the date, place, and a few memories from each trip. I'm thinking of the jars as my new "frames" and having fun coming up with new ways to use them!

Happy Easter, everyone!
Jessica